FOREST PARK, Ohio — One of the nation’s highest-ranked high school basketball players looked around the Winton Woods High School gymnasium late Saturday morning and smiled.
Overtime Elite point guard Kam Mercer, a former Winton Woods Middle School star, hosted his first back-to-school community backpack drive for several students and families.
“It means the world to me,” said Mercer, who lives in Springdale with his family.
The event was sponsored by Arizona-based 24 Apparel which has a name, image and likeness (NIL) agreement with the five-star athlete.
Various school supplies – from backpacks to notebooks and pencils to folders – were available at no charge for elementary and middle school students.
"This is Kam's idea," 24 Apparel founder Ruben Gammage said. "When we sat and talked to him he was like, 'yeah, I want to do backpacks and stuff like that.' So we basically took his idea and this is what the turnout is. This is all 100% Kam."
Mercer, who turns 16 years on Aug. 11, is known throughout the Greater Cincinnati basketball community and within the national college basketball recruiting scene.
Mercer helped Indy Heat 16u to the Peach Jam championship in July. The annual Peach Jam is a prestigious Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball event held in South Carolina.
In June, Mercer helped USA Basketball’s U16 National Team win a gold medal at the FIBA U16 Men’s AmeriCup in Juárez, Mexico in June.
The 6-foot-5 Mercer also signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal with Panini America earlier this summer. He has nearly 62,000 Instagram followers.
But, Mercer also has perspective on his success this year and throughout his basketball career.
"My parents tell me not to let it get to my head," Mercer said. "l listen to them. It could be gone tomorrow. You never know. That right there tells me to stay focused. Whatever good comes, it will come."
Mercer, who is ranked No. 6 nationally in ESPN's 2028 rankings, said he wants to remembered for helping others.
"No matter how many followers I have, no matter how big I get – I'm still a regular person at the end of the day," Mercer said. "Just giving back shows the kids. I really want to be looked at as the inspiration to the younger kids."
Mercer posed for a selfie with a student and made families feel welcome as he helped to pass out backpacks Saturday morning.
"He's always walking around with a basketball in his hand," Gammage said. "Just to see a kid excited about helping other kids is just unmatched."
The event was a day after Mercer visited The Ohio State University.
"They kind of rolled out the red carpet for me," Mercer said. "They've been talking about me getting on campus for like a year now. They finally made it true. It was my day. Nobody else was there. I was the only recruit on campus. I watched them practice, talked to them. I went around the entire campus. So beautiful. It was a really, really good day outside as well."
Mercer has scholarship offers that include North Carolina State, Louisville, Maryland and Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, Xavier, Ohio State and Missouri.
Mercer, who received a City of Springdale proclamation July 2, signed with Overtime Elite in May and plans to report to the Atlanta-based program later this month.
Mercer admits sometimes the basketball spotlight is overwhelming but the majority of the time is really fun.
"I just want to go out there and play basketball," Mercer said. "All the followers and stuff is extra. The money and everything is extra. At the end of the day, it's about how much fun you're having. I wouldn't want to be nowhere else but to play basketball."
